Gen. David Petraeus, the former CIA Director, has signed an agreement in which he indicated he will plead guilty to one count of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material, the Department of Justice said Monday.
The charge relates to the leaking of confidential information in 2011 to his biographer Paula Broadwell, with whom he was having an extramarital affair.
Petraeus signed the plea agreement and a corresponding statement of facts on Feb. 23, both of which were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on Monday, DOJ spokesperson Marc Raimondi confirmed to BuzzFeed News.
The charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in prison, as well as a $100,000 fine.
However, under the deal, U.S. federal prosecutors agreed not to oppose the defense team's request that Petraeus receive a noncustodial sentence. Instead, both sides are calling on the court to impose a $40,000 fine, as well as a probation term of two years.
He is not facing charges relating to making false statements to the FBI, despite admitting to lying to federal agents during a 2012 interview at the CIA.
The agreement means Petraeus, a four-star military commander who spearheaded the successful 2006 "surge" of U.S. forces in Iraq, will avoid an embarrassing trial over the Broadwell affair.
The pair's relationship came to light after Broadwell was investigated by the FBI for allegedly cyberstalking and threatening a friend of Petraeus.
Broadwell, a former Army Reserve officer, had been writing a biography, All In: The Education of General David Petraeus, during their affair.
In August, 2011, Petraeus provided Broadwell with notebooks containing classified information relating to his previous role as commander of the International Special Assistance Force in Afghanistan.
The books contained the "identities of covert officers, war strategy, intelligence capabilities and mechanisms, diplomatic discussions, quotes and deliberative discussions from high-level National Security Council meetings, and [Petraeus'] discussions with the president," according to the statement of facts signed by Petraeus.
The so-called "black books" were left with Broadwell for several days in order to be used as source material for her biography, although no confidential material appeared in the published work. The books were then stored in Petraeus' private residence, which had not been authorized to store such sensitive material.
During an October 2012 interview with two FBI agents in his CIA office, Petraeus falsely denied providing any classified information to Broadwell. He had previously affirmed in writing that he knew providing false information to the FBI was illegal.
Petraeus, who was appointed to lead the CIA by President Obama in 2011, resigned his post shortly after the president's re-election in 2012.
During a March 2013 speech, Petraeus said, "Please allow me to begin by reiterating... how deeply I regret and apologize for the circumstances that led to my resignation from the CIA and caused such pain for my family, friends, and supporters."
"This has obviously been a very difficult episode for us," he continued. "But perhaps my experience can be instructive to others who stumble or indeed fall as I did."
